No Weaknesses
by Luinramwen
Summary: Vol. 7 spoilers. Waiting in the Cat’s Eye for Syaoran to return... waiting for the sun to set...


**No Weaknesses**

-Summary- Vol. 7 spoilers. Waiting in the Cat's Eye for Syaoran to return; waiting for the sun to set...

A/N - I have two points to make here. 1) I don't say who the narrator is but if it does not become immediately obvious after the first sentence then I suggest you pick up the nearest dictionary and smack yourself upside the head. Then go read more Tsubasa. And, 2) No shonen-ai. None at all. Go pick another fic if that's what you were hoping for.

... That's it, really.

Disclaimer - You know I don't own it. You can guess that I wish I did, or barring that, one of Sakura's feathers, eventually guaranteeing that the group shows up in my backyard one day...

-

I told the brat that he could go find the guy who controls the _oni_, that I would stay with his princess while he was gone. I'd never seen that look on his face before. I could see that he'd been completely and utterly unprepared for the manju-bun's little announcement that the mage had gone and got himself killed. I don't think he's ever had anyone die on him before.

I guessed it surprised me a bit, too. It's not something you generally prepare for. It just seemed... I don't know, a bit _odd?_ I mean, it's - it was - the mage. I'd never pegged him as the dying sort. He didn't want to die, he just wasn't making any effort to actually live the life he had. Idiot.

The manju-bun told me this, after the kid had rushed off to confront the _oni_-guy - that this Seishiro had been looking for me and the brat because he believed that we were a threat to whatever the hell he's doing. I could really have cared less, but the bastard chose to involve us. If he wants involvement, he's definitely got it. The best way to piss the kid off is to hurt someone he cares about.

It seemed weird, still. You look at what happened, and does it honestly seem right? I mean, the damn wizard won't - wouldn't - even protect himself most of the time. How many times have I had to save his lousy neck? And then he goes and refuses to tell someone like that what he wants to know? He takes on a high-level _oni_ completely weaponless, and _still_ refuses to use his stupid magic, and gets himself killed? I hadn't had him pegged as the hero-type either, although under the circumstances I guess I know why he did it. The little princess is pretty important to them all, I know. I just don't get _why_ he did it - if that makes sense.

It just feels awkward. I don't get it, and it frustrates me that I don't get it, and it also frustrates me to watch innocent if stupid people die for some incomprehensible reason. I'm supposed to be the fighter here. I'm the killer. The brat's never killed someone in his life - I can tell. I know that horribly aggravating mage has killed. I just don't know why he stopped. None of my business, I know. And I don't give a damn whether I ever find out.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm the one who keeps people from doing something stupid. I should have been more careful. I'm the one who knows exactly what he's doing. I should have thought ahead and made the kid stay behind with the three helpless ones.

I wouldn't expect the manju-bun to fight, and certainly not the princess, but it's still annoying that they're all so helpless that I _have_ to look out for them or feel guilty if they get hurt. I... I guess that the thing that I feel now is something like guilt. I _hate_ that feeling.

Only one of us could have gone to the Tower of the Little People. It's not like it was a job that required a partner.

All right, I'm almost lying to myself. Without the brat realizing that we needed fire to defeat the enormous _oni_ I would have had a hell of a time finishing it off on my own. On the other hand, I know I could have moved faster alone, got to the top and back out again in a shorter amount of time. Maybe I would have got back in time to finish that damn _oni_-guy off then and there. Or maybe not.

It's a funny thing, but I've only just realized that I've started to actually rely on the kid to work with me now. Tomoyo-hime would kill herself laughing if she knew, but she's not going to find out. It's a hard thing for me to admit, even to myself, that I keep thinking that I can depend on such a young, inexperienced kid to actually help me out when the going gets rough. But the brat's a decent enough kid, as kids go. He's smart. He's tough. He learns fast, and he never, ever gives up. I guess I kind of respect him for that. Sometimes he almost reminds me of...well, me. Except a lot less violent.

I'm a little concerned. He's been gone a long time now.

I know I made it sound like I was in control when he said he was going to go meet that bastard he used to know, like it was me letting him go off to do this on his own instead of him allowing me to stay with his little princess. Nothing I could've said would possibly have stopped him. He gets block-headed when he gets a certain idea into his mind about what he's going to do. But I made that promise to act by sunset to let him know that he's not the only one who wants revenge, that this Seishiro person is a concern of us all. I'm pissed off now. I'm not going to let the kid die in vain - and I'm hoping he doesn't die at all - but I think by this point he deserves a little bit of my trust. And that's why I promised what I did.

That guy used _oni_ to kill someone who was just a bystander. I can't stand people who will do that. People who will kill someone who's not doing any harm might do _anything_. They don't care. I know what those kind of people are like. They'll break laws or bones or oaths with the same indifference.

Which reminds me as I wait here alone as the sun sinks far too slowly into the west, that I still don't know why it makes me angry that the wizard died. Because I'm pretty sure that one of the reasons he's running is because he broke an oath that he shouldn't have. He never said, but I'm almost sure that's it. I hate oath breakers and cowards. I do. They're too weak to keep their promises. That's what the mage is - was.

Or maybe that's wrong. I'm not sure any more. Maybe it's what just happened. Maybe I'm going nuts after enduring so much of that damn magician's idiotic nonsense. But somehow, it doesn't feel like he was being weak. Not in the sense I'm used to, anyways.

No, no, no. I do _not_ have a soft spot for that bloody idiot. Or the kid, or the princess, or the manju-bun. I don't have any damn weaknesses for any damn one.

But I'm still going after Seishiro for revenge if the brat doesn't return by sunset...


End file.
